European vs American beauty. I’ve lived in Poland for over three years now and there are some interesting differences that I’ve noticed in how women here approach beauty vs the way we approached it in North America.
I was riding the subway the other day and I looked around only to discover that most women had no makeup on but, their skin looked pretty good.
Up until now, I never would have dreamed of leaving the house without some makeup and although I’m not comfortable going completely barefaced, I have caught myself going out with just a drop of foundation.
I believe that the general approach to beauty is tied directly to how women live on a day to day basis. While people work hard here, they seem to take many more mini vacations and spend a lot more time going out and being around friends and family. It’s much more a part of everyday living, whereas in North America I always found that life revolved more around work. Plus, life is more fast past paced and focused on instant gratification.
Here it’s about good food that’s not over-processed and getting out of the city whenever possible. Hiking, skiing, swimming or even visiting mineral baths are very common ways to spend ones time.
EUROPEAN VS AMERICAN BEAUTY
Focus On Skincare Over Makeup. I think most women love makeup to a certain extent. It’s a quick and easy way to make us feel good. Here’s the thing though, think about all those thousands of videos of girls showing us the perfect way to contour….. What that comes down to is that they are hiding behind makeup. They all wind up looking the same and slightly artificial. The truth is, you will never truly look great unless your skin is smooth, plump and healthy looking.
Read: HOW TO LOOK YOUR BEST WITHOUT MAKEUP
Only Wear The Makeup You Need. It’s really not about covering every inch of your face in heavy makeup, remember we are trying to let our natural beauty shine through. It comes down to finding out what you love about yourself and highlighting it rather than trying to change your looks completely.
Read: HOW TO PREP YOUR SKIN FOR MAKEUP
Protect Your Skin. At all costs you need to protect your skin. I used to love broiling in the sun but my mom would never leave the house without a very high SPF sunscreen, no exceptions. If we ever did get sunburned, there was always yogurt or aloe on hand to soothe the skin.
Read: AT HOME SUNBURN CURES
Look For Quality Skincare. My mom had really sensitive skin and I have lots of memories of her complaining that certain ingredients just didn’t work. She was very demanding about what she used and she was the first one who introduced me to high quality skincare.
Use What Work. On that same note, she knew what worked and what didn’t. Anything that wasn’t up to the job was tossed and she used the products that she knew would perform the best. Not only did she introduce me to high quality skincare but she also introduced me to the simple idea of consistent skincare care.
Read: HOW DO I KNOW IF MY SKINCARE IS WORKING
Eat Well. I see this changing as people’s lives become more hectic but it’s important to remember that what we put into our bodies directly affects our skin. I think back to my childhood and we rarely ate out (and fast food was a rarity), we mostly ate at home and always had fresh vegetables and lots of fruit on the table. From an early age my parents taught us about the beauty of really good food.
Now of course this is just a high level overview and there’s a lot more to the subject but maybe it’s time that we all return to simpler more natural beauty instead of striving for something we are not.
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